8 replies to this topic

[sanman]

I have a social website and I want to optimize it. How shall I proceed? And what type of keywords are best to target?

[Jill]

I don't think SEO is the best way to market a social site. You'll probably want to use other forms of marketing. Unless of course your keyword research shows that people are looking for social sites via search engines. Something tells me they're not.

[torka]

And what type of keywords are best to target?

Those that are relevant to the topic of your site.

--Torka

[nethy]

I have a social website and I want to optimize it. How shall I proceed? And what type of keywords are best to target?

Have a read of this.

I don't think SEO is the best way to market a social site. You'll probably want to use other forms of marketing. Unless of course your keyword research shows that people are looking for social sites via search engines. Something tells me they're not.

Not sure I agree. you could argue that this is a social site. You don't think that SEO is a good way to introduce people to it?

Edited by nethy, 21 September 2008 - 10:37 PM.

[Jill]

Not sure I agree. you could argue that this is a social site. You don't think that SEO is a good way to introduce people to it?

Not SEO in the true sense. Yes, it gets lots of search engine traffic, but that happens naturally. I sure don't optimize the forum or the posts for any specific keyword phrases.

[nethy]

Not SEO in the true sense. Yes, it gets lots of search engine traffic, but that happens naturally. I sure don't optimize the forum or the posts for any specific keyword phrases.

Don't mean to be trollish but..
- You agree that SE traffic from searches broadly related to the topic of a forum/"social site" has potential to grow the community.
- You disagree that you should aim to maximise this traffic.

Do you think that doing so would be futile (wouldn't work). If so, why? If not, is there some other reason?

[Jill]

No, it's certainly a good thing to do, but it's one of those long term investments that won't pay off until or unless a community actually develops. I would think the best thing to start with would be on building the community.

Kind of a chicken and egg sort of thing.

[sanman]

No, it's certainly a good thing to do, but it's one of those long term investments that won't pay off until or unless a community actually develops. I would think the best thing to start with would be on building the community.

Kind of a chicken and egg sort of thing.

If SEO is not a good idea for a social site, then what should be my next step? Also I have checked the keyword "social networking sites" and it is searched 231 times and some more keywords like that. Please advise how shall I proceed. If not SEO then?

[nethy]

No, it's certainly a good thing to do, but it's one of those long term investments that won't pay off until or unless a community actually develops. I would think the best thing to start with would be on building the community.

Kind of a chicken and egg sort of thing.

That's true everywhere. But it's not a chicken & egg.
SEO rarely pays off if no one likes the product, doesn't matter if it's a forum or a salad. Sure, start building a community, start making salad, start correct accounting practices, start developing quality staff, start working on a revenue model, exit strategy, merchandising, Jill Whalen action figures... None of those things pay off if the community does not develop. None of that is linear. It's true that people finding out about your site before it's ready is not useful, but that has nothing to do with SEO.

SEO is a substantial source of discovery. For most "social sites" a substantial one but still less then 50%. It would be irresponsible to ignore it.